Rapid recap: Iowa 59, GCU 46

Wednesday, November 26

Palm Desert, Calif. / Acrisure Arena

7:30 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

4-3,0-0Mountain West

Iowa

7-0,0-0Big Ten

Grand Canyon

Iowa

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

11/26/2025 9:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Hawkeyes dictate pace in Acrisure Classic championship game

By: Paul Coro

PALM DESERT, Calif. – Grand Canyon's defense held Iowa, the national field goal percentage leader, to 40.4% shooting in Wednesday night's Acrisure Classic championship game, but the Lopes' offense flipped from a six-turnover game to beat Utah on Tuesday to making 19 turnovers in a low-possession, slow-paced game to Iowa's liking.

The Hawkeyes (7-0), ranked No. 22 in KenPom rankings, stayed undefeated by controlling the style of play and led by nine points or more after their opening basket of the second half. The Lopes (4-3) shot 49.5% from the field without getting any points on second chances or fastbreaks,

Key player

GCU senior guard Jaden Henley led the Lopes with 16 points, which accounted for 35% of the Lopes' scoring. He also committed six turnovers with only two assists.

Henley was dominant in GCU's best stretch of the game, when the Lopes took a 10-4 lead in the first 3 1/2 minutes with Henley knocking down a pair of 3-pointers and scoring on a driving slam while being fouled.

Key moment

GCU held a 13-8 lead through the first eight minutes of the game, but Utah went on a 13-2 run over six minutes of play as the Lopes turnover issues with nine of those 13 points being scored off Lopes miscues.

Utah never relinquished its lead, getting a key 5-0 finish to the first half when the Lopes had remained withing three points on a 3-pointer by junior guard Dusty Stromer..

Key statistic

Four of GCU's big men logged 54 minutes cumulatively without making a field goal, going 0 for 9 as a group with an 0-for-8 game by graduate power forward Nana Owusu-Anane. The lone big men to fare decently on offense was freshman center Efe Demirel, who followed up 11- and 12-point games by going 2 for 3 for four points and a team-best six rebounds in 23 minutes.

Quotable

GCU head coach Bryce Drew: "I think you can't overlook retaining players and having players that have been in your system for two, three, four years. Especially early in the year, there's a huge benefit to that. I thought our guys really executed our defensive game plan. We held them to 40%. Our defense was definitely good enough to win this game. We somewhat gave other teams a blueprint for how to guard them from here on out. I'm proud of our defensive effort. Really hard to overcome no second-chance points and really hard to overcome 19 turnovers. ."

What's next?

GCU plays Stetson at home Tuesday night. The Hatters are 3-4 after a Tuesday home loss to Wright State.

Return to GCULopes.com later tonight for Paul Coro's updated game recap with more details and reactions from Lopes head coach Bryce Drew and players.